Polen zwischen hitler und stalin biography wikipedia

Why was the nazi-soviet pact important

Throughout the entire course of the occupation, the territory of Poland was divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union USSR , both of which intended to eradicate Poland's culture and subjugate its people. Sociologist Tadeusz Piotrowski argues that both occupying powers were hostile to the existence of Poland's sovereignty , people , and the culture and aimed to destroy them.

Around six million Polish citizens—nearly A small strip of land, about square kilometres sq mi with , inhabitants [ 8 ] that had been part of Czechoslovakia before , was ceded by Germany to its ally, Slovakia. Poles comprised an overwhelming majority the population of the territories that came under the control of Germany, in contrast the areas annexed by the Soviet Union contained a diverse array of peoples, the population being split into bilingual provinces, some of which had large ethnic Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities, [ 15 ] many of whom welcomed the Soviets due in part to communist agitation by Soviet emissaries.

Nonetheless, Poles still comprised a plurality of the population in all territories annexed by the Soviet Union. By the end of the invasion, the Soviet Union had taken over There were also , refugees, mostly Jews , , who fled from areas occupied by Germany. The Soviets gained recognition of their pre annexations of Polish territory; as compensation, substantial portions of eastern Germany were ceded to Poland, whose borders were significantly shifted westwards.

For months prior to the beginning of World War II in , German newspapers and leaders had carried out a national and international propaganda campaign accusing Polish authorities of organizing or tolerating violent ethnic cleansing of ethnic Germans living in Poland. Kennard sent four statements in August to Viscount Halifax regarding Hitler's claims about the treatment Germans were receiving in Poland; he came to the conclusion all the claims by Hitler and the Nazis were exaggerations or false claims.